Surprise — catcher Cutler to bat leadoff in season finale

For the season finale, the Springfield Cardinals hit the clubhouse today and got a surprise when they each took a glance at manager Pop Warner’s lineup.

Batting leadoff is — drum roll please — Charlie Cutler, a catcher.

It is the first time this season that Cutler has batted leadoff and an obvious sign that Warner is trying anything to squeeze one last win out of his club, which is in danger of being swept in a three-game series by the Arkansas Travelers. Game time today is 12:07 p.m. at Hammons Field.

Cutler was a double shy of the cycle in hitting out of the No. 2 spot in a road game last week and enters today batting .337/.403/.482 (average, on-base, slugging).

Typical for the kind of season this been, those numbers are actually better than usual leadoff man Jim Rapoport, who was dropped all the way to No. 9 today. He is batting
.221/.344/.444.

Cutler’s presence atop the order also is a clever way for Warner to kick-start a sluggish offense and, subtly, kick-start struggling slugger Matt Adams. Despite recently reaching 101 RBIs, the recently named Texas League Player of the Year has seen his average fall to .303 for the season, thanks to batting only .257 (62-for-241) since Aug. 1.

Besides all that, Warner has nothing to lose. The Cardinals are not going to the playoffs and enter today with a franchise-worst record of 62-77, including 30-39 in the season’ second half.

Here’s the Cardinals’ lineup today:

Charlie Cutler C

Ryan Jackson SS

Matt Adams 1B

Chris Swauger RF

Zack Cox 3B

Jermaine Curtis DH

Eric Duncan LF

Donovan Solano 2B

Jim Rapoport CF

About Kary Booher

Kary Booher covers the Springfield Cardinals and small colleges for the News-Leader. A native of southern Kansas, he is a graduate (and former sports editor of student newspapers) of Cowley County (Kan.) Community College and Oklahoma State University. You also may have read his work on the sports pages in Topeka and Pittsburg in Kansas and Jackson, Tenn., or once saw him in his youth water-skiing on Table Rock Lake near the Kimberling City bridge.